AMHERST – Carly Jackson knows she’s being given an opportunity few receive.

The 16-year-old Hastings resident will put her goaltending talents up against the best in the country next week when she competes with Team Atlantic at the Canadian Women’s Under-18 Championship Hockey Tournament in Calgary.

The team leaves for Calgary on Sunday and has two days of practices before opening the tournament on Wednesday, Nov. 6 against Ontario Blue.

“I’m so excited, it’s such an honour to be able to tryout,” Jackson said. “My expectations when I went to try out this summer were just to have fun, but to make the team is so incredible. It’s an amazing opportunity.”

Team Atlantic is in Group A with British Columbia, Ontario Blue and Quebec. Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario Red and Saskatchewan make up Group B.

A member of the Cumberland County Minor Hockey Association’s Midget A Ramblers, the Grade 11 student at Amherst Regional High School learned in early September that she had made the Atlantic team.

Besides playing with her regular team, Jackson has been working out under the guidance of Jean Alexandre in Moncton and has practiced with the Weeks Major Midgets in New Glasgow. She also saw exhibition action between the pipes for the Cumberland County Blues of the Nova Scotia Junior Hockey League.

The team includes six Nova Scotians, eight from New Brunswick and three each from Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador.

“We got to know each other during the tryouts in Antigonish and I think we’re going to have a pretty smart team,” she said. “We’re going to have to play smart to beat teams like Ontario.”

Jackson said she’s thrilled to be playing for the coaching staff that’s led by Mount Allison Mounties’ head coach Zac Ball, and she’s hoping a strong showing at this tournament will not only give her a shot at representing Nova Scotia at next year’s Canada Games in British Columbia, but also an opportunity to play university hockey when she finishes high school.

“I hope to be able to help my team the best I can,” Jackson said. “As long as I play well ’ll be happy with myself. Sometimes you can’t control things, but as long as I help the team I’ll be happy.”

Jackson was also a member of the Nova Scotia that won the Atlantic Challenge Cup in Moncton over the Thanksgiving Weekend. Jackson earned the shutout in the 1-0 gold medal game win, while Brookdale’s Mallory Rushton, who his playing prep school hockey in New Hampshire, scored the winning goal.

This past summer also saw Jackson play in the Canadian Bantam Girls Baseball Championship in Bedford for the second consecutive year. She was the 2012 Baseball Nova Scotia Female Player of the Year.